Your Character's Name: DJ
I cracked a glow stick on my thigh and shook it like mad to shed a little light on our predicament. The girl with the Curator tattoo ran up my back and I shrugged her off. "Careful how you move mac, you dig me in the back and I'm so pilled up that I rattle," I growled, but her blank look meant she missed the reference. Older than old school so I couldn't say I blamed her but I was in no mood to be generous. And that last part was true. I was jacked to my eyeballs on rundown and amphetamines and not in any condition to be making important decisions.
The girl stared up at the line where light squeezed through to outline the square steel hatch far above. The hatch rattled as her friends tried in vain to pry it open. A gunshot and screams followed as the psycho tried to shoot out the lock. I laughed at their ineptitude, then turn my attention to searching the floor while the glow stick was still fresh.
I heard the girl gasp when the light hit M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s face and I can't say I blamed her; a human's neck shouldn't bend that way, but of course it wasn't human. M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s eyes had rolled back showing nothing but the whites at shutdown, and her arms and legs splayed at her sides added to the gruesome image. Not for the first time, her resemblance to a "real" human unnerved me. For all I knew, the crazy chick following me could be an android too. That's how far they'd come before the world fell apart.
My fingers worked their magic and M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s head snapped to attention. The music blared to life for three, four heavy beats until I shout in her ear to knock it off. "Flashlight mode," I said in her ear and hauled her to her feet. Two beams of bright white light sliced through the gloom of the tunnel.
"What are we going to do?" the girl asked.
"For starters, you're going to shut up. I don't know you, I don't trust you, and I don't like you," I said, although that last part wasn't strictly true. I saw her dancing with M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. and liked that plenty, but the people she had come with had just shut down the whole rave, which was my meal ticket. "Just so we're clear, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. here will break every bone in your body if I tell her to, so don't tempt me." Again, not strictly true--M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s a lover not a fighter--but what this girl didn't know...
In the light of the glow stick I watched her twitch, her hands roaming behind her ears, through her hair. Tweaking bad and just as jacked as me. The tunnels down here stretched in every direction for mile, and the hatches to topside locked from either side. Nasty folks other than Curators used these tunnels too, and more than a few would celebrate finding a girl wandering down here alone. It would be kinder to clock her upside the head with a lead pipe rather than let her on her own down here.
"We're going to the art museum," I said. "You're free to tag along. If you want."
She stroked her bare arms to warm them and offered a shy smile, nodding. Was she playing me? If so, it was working. I dug deep in my pocket and offered her a small mesh bag. "Suck on this," I told her. "It helps with the shakes. Now put your hands on my hips, stay close, and let M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. lead the way."
We picked our way through the tunnels stepping over trash and bones of the less fortunate in a grotesque conga line. She held close like I told her, filling my nostrils with her human scent, pressing against me when she stumbled. More than once I was tempted to say screw it and fire up M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. and the turntable and have our own private party down here amidst the slime and the filth this forsaken world left behind. But no matter how long you keep the music pumping, the party has to end sometime and then you're right back in the world of pain and sorrow. Doing right by the Curators means my next party is always one sunset away, and I couldn't let myself forget that this girl put that at risk, no matter how good her hands felt on me.
After an hour of walking we merged onto the candlelit offshoot that went to the museum and, to my regret, the girl let her hands slip from my waist. We came to the vault door that barred entrance from the tunnels to the museum's antechamber. "Hold on," I said and drew another bag from my pocket. I shook into my palm a rundown, a roofie, and an amphetamine pill. I figured that roller-coast would get me through whatever was about to happen. Then I pounded on the door using the secret cadence. DUM-DUMDUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Rabies," she answered, and a tiny part of me died thinking about the party I could have had with a girl like this in those tunnels.
A second later, a shriek of metal and the door slid open.
----
"You shouldn't be here," Isabella said as soon as she saw me.
"Nice to see you too, Is," I said, rolling my eyes.
She passed over M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. quickly but looked over Rabies slowly. "Who is this?"
The girl opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off. "A friend," I answered, and gave Rabies my you're supposed to shut up, remember? look.
Isabella crossed her arms and exhaled. "You," she said to me, "Are such an asshole. You know you can't bring her here, it's not safe." she said nodding at M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. Then she turned her glare to Rabies. "And you certainly can't bring her here."
I laughed and started telling the story of what brought us there. The shit I'd taken kicked in fierce about a third of the way through and I don't know if I made much sense, but it ended with the obvious: me, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H., the turntable and Rabies were on their doorstep with nowhere to go and wondering what to do next.
Isabella said nothing for long time, just stood there shaking her head. "This is bad. This is, like, big time bad. We've got to get you out before anyone knows you're here. And you," she said to Rabies. "You're free to stay and catch a few hours sleep but then you've got to go."
"Why?" I asked, breaking from my addled reverie imagining Isabella, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H., Rabies and I cozying up in a corner somewhere.
"Focus," Isabella commanded, looking like she wanted to shake me. Then she turned to Rabies. "You want to get out of here fast," she said. "Things are about to get a whole lot worse."
I cracked a glow stick on my thigh and shook it like mad to shed a little light on our predicament. The girl with the Curator tattoo ran up my back and I shrugged her off. "Careful how you move mac, you dig me in the back and I'm so pilled up that I rattle," I growled, but her blank look meant she missed the reference. Older than old school so I couldn't say I blamed her but I was in no mood to be generous. And that last part was true. I was jacked to my eyeballs on rundown and amphetamines and not in any condition to be making important decisions.
The girl stared up at the line where light squeezed through to outline the square steel hatch far above. The hatch rattled as her friends tried in vain to pry it open. A gunshot and screams followed as the psycho tried to shoot out the lock. I laughed at their ineptitude, then turn my attention to searching the floor while the glow stick was still fresh.
I heard the girl gasp when the light hit M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s face and I can't say I blamed her; a human's neck shouldn't bend that way, but of course it wasn't human. M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s eyes had rolled back showing nothing but the whites at shutdown, and her arms and legs splayed at her sides added to the gruesome image. Not for the first time, her resemblance to a "real" human unnerved me. For all I knew, the crazy chick following me could be an android too. That's how far they'd come before the world fell apart.
My fingers worked their magic and M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s head snapped to attention. The music blared to life for three, four heavy beats until I shout in her ear to knock it off. "Flashlight mode," I said in her ear and hauled her to her feet. Two beams of bright white light sliced through the gloom of the tunnel.
"What are we going to do?" the girl asked.
"For starters, you're going to shut up. I don't know you, I don't trust you, and I don't like you," I said, although that last part wasn't strictly true. I saw her dancing with M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. and liked that plenty, but the people she had come with had just shut down the whole rave, which was my meal ticket. "Just so we're clear, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. here will break every bone in your body if I tell her to, so don't tempt me." Again, not strictly true--M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H.'s a lover not a fighter--but what this girl didn't know...
In the light of the glow stick I watched her twitch, her hands roaming behind her ears, through her hair. Tweaking bad and just as jacked as me. The tunnels down here stretched in every direction for mile, and the hatches to topside locked from either side. Nasty folks other than Curators used these tunnels too, and more than a few would celebrate finding a girl wandering down here alone. It would be kinder to clock her upside the head with a lead pipe rather than let her on her own down here.
"We're going to the art museum," I said. "You're free to tag along. If you want."
She stroked her bare arms to warm them and offered a shy smile, nodding. Was she playing me? If so, it was working. I dug deep in my pocket and offered her a small mesh bag. "Suck on this," I told her. "It helps with the shakes. Now put your hands on my hips, stay close, and let M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. lead the way."
We picked our way through the tunnels stepping over trash and bones of the less fortunate in a grotesque conga line. She held close like I told her, filling my nostrils with her human scent, pressing against me when she stumbled. More than once I was tempted to say screw it and fire up M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. and the turntable and have our own private party down here amidst the slime and the filth this forsaken world left behind. But no matter how long you keep the music pumping, the party has to end sometime and then you're right back in the world of pain and sorrow. Doing right by the Curators means my next party is always one sunset away, and I couldn't let myself forget that this girl put that at risk, no matter how good her hands felt on me.
After an hour of walking we merged onto the candlelit offshoot that went to the museum and, to my regret, the girl let her hands slip from my waist. We came to the vault door that barred entrance from the tunnels to the museum's antechamber. "Hold on," I said and drew another bag from my pocket. I shook into my palm a rundown, a roofie, and an amphetamine pill. I figured that roller-coast would get me through whatever was about to happen. Then I pounded on the door using the secret cadence. DUM-DUMDUM-DUM-DUMDUM-DUM.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Rabies," she answered, and a tiny part of me died thinking about the party I could have had with a girl like this in those tunnels.
A second later, a shriek of metal and the door slid open.
----
"You shouldn't be here," Isabella said as soon as she saw me.
"Nice to see you too, Is," I said, rolling my eyes.
She passed over M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. quickly but looked over Rabies slowly. "Who is this?"
The girl opened her mouth to speak but I cut her off. "A friend," I answered, and gave Rabies my you're supposed to shut up, remember? look.
Isabella crossed her arms and exhaled. "You," she said to me, "Are such an asshole. You know you can't bring her here, it's not safe." she said nodding at M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H. Then she turned her glare to Rabies. "And you certainly can't bring her here."
I laughed and started telling the story of what brought us there. The shit I'd taken kicked in fierce about a third of the way through and I don't know if I made much sense, but it ended with the obvious: me, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H., the turntable and Rabies were on their doorstep with nowhere to go and wondering what to do next.
Isabella said nothing for long time, just stood there shaking her head. "This is bad. This is, like, big time bad. We've got to get you out before anyone knows you're here. And you," she said to Rabies. "You're free to stay and catch a few hours sleep but then you've got to go."
"Why?" I asked, breaking from my addled reverie imagining Isabella, M.E.R.E.D.I.T.H., Rabies and I cozying up in a corner somewhere.
"Focus," Isabella commanded, looking like she wanted to shake me. Then she turned to Rabies. "You want to get out of here fast," she said. "Things are about to get a whole lot worse."